Kennedy Rhodes turns down an acceptance to an elite private school, instead choosing to stay at her high school and jump at the opportunity to date the boy of her dreams. Three years later, Kennedy walks in on that same boyfriend cheating with her best friend—and wishes she had made a different choice. But when Kennedy hits her head and wakes up in the version of her life where she chose to attend the private school, she finds that maybe it’s not as perfect of a world as she once thought.

In Some Other Life is a story that dives into the what-ifs of life, how your life could have been changed if you had taken a different path. Kennedy is quite the over-achiever in all aspects of life. She is smart and extremely driven, but a little flawed in her perception of those around her and her relationships. She turned down a chance to go to the private school of her dreams to explore a relationship with a longtime crush. Though she made quite the life for herself at school with her boyfriend, friends, and of course the school newspaper that meant so much to her over the years, she was still a little obsessed with the school left behind and what could have been. When things go wrong, a hit on the head seems to transfer her into a parallel world that shows her exactly what she was missing.

I really love the message of this story. When times get rough in life and you find yourself at a crossroads, it is hard not to consider all the what-ifs and fill yourself with regrets with the choices that didn’t work out how you hoped. And I remember how significant those what-ifs felt when I was a teenager. In Some Other Life allows us to explore the what-ifs with Kennedy and how the butterfly effect can take hold with one change rippling into all aspects of your life. Her new reality appeared to be everything she hoped for on the surface but underneath she discovered just how wrong she could have been about everything. Kennedy had to learn how to accept her decisions, and even though things may seem to be going wrong, something wonderful could be on the horizon.

I didn’t find Kennedy to be the most relatable of characters for me. She was a little over the top at times but nevertheless I really enjoyed the journey she took. I felt some of the secondary characters were well done as well, especially her little brother and Dylan, who she meets at the private school.

Even though this book is 400+ pages, it was easy to get through and a quick read. I didn’t feel any confusion with the explanation of the multiverse we are introduced to either. And though the plot was quite predictable, I really had fun with it and loved how it all came together.

About Jessica Brody

Jessica Brody knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self “publishing” her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples, and electrical tape.

After graduating from Smith College in 2001 where she double majored in Economics and French and minored in Japanese, Jessica later went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, Jessica quit her job to follow her dream of becoming a published author.

Since then, Jessica has sold over twelve novels for teens, tweens, and adults including 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, The Karma Club, My Life Undecided, and the three books in the Unremembered trilogy, the first of which is currently in development as a major motion picture by the producers of The Vampire Academy, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, and Slumdog Millionaire. In 2016, she will release two new contemporary novels, A Week of Mondays (August) and Boys of Summer (April), and in 2017, her debut middle grade novel entitled, Addie Bell’s Shortcut to Growing Up, will hit bookstore shelves.

Jessica also writes books for the Descendants: “School of Secrets” series, based on the hit Disney Channel Original movie, Descendants!

Jessica’s books are published and translated in over twenty foreign countries. (Click here for a full list of foreign sales and publishers.) She currently splits her time between California and Colorado.

7 Responses to “Review: In Some Other Life by Jessica Brody”

I am really looking forward to this one. There were these two TV shows I loved, one was Being Erica and the other was Hindsight. They both played with this theme, and there are just so many wonderful possibilities for this type of story.Sam@WLABB recently posted…Romance Roundup: Entangled Crush Edition

I love books with this sort of concept. You don’t see many of them so it’s always kind of cool to come across one. 400 pages is a LOT. I love longer contemporaries like Morgan Matson’s but if Kennedy was a little too over the top I might get slightly annoyed with her haha. This does sound interesting though!Christine recently posted…Review: This is Not the End

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In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Forever 17 Books. All books I review are either bought by myself, won, or received in exchange for an honest review.